Round bales after formation by the baler are left in the field for later collection for storage or for long distance transportation. Where the bales are intended to be transported over long distances, they are loaded onto a fifth wheel trailer which can be towed by a highway tractor. The bales are generally loaded onto the trailer by a front end loader which uses a fork lift system at the forward end for lifting each bale individually into position on the trailer. It is convenient therefore that all of the bales be brought to a road side location for loading quickly and conveniently from that road side location onto the trailer.
At this time there are basically two systems for transporting bales including firstly the front end loader on the tractor itself so that in many cases the tractor is used to lift each bale in turn and to transport it from the field location to the roadside location. This is of course inconvenient and inefficient since many bales may be transported over as much as half a mile which is wasteful in terms of machinery usage, operator hours and fuel.
However larger bale transport trailers are generally designed to carry up to twenty bales arranged in two rows. Various different designs of trailer are arranged of this type in many cases providing chain conveyors onto which the bales are loaded so that the bales can be discharged rearwardly from the trailer into rows. This type of trailer is relatively complicated including necessity for relatively expensive chain constructions and the drives for those chains thus leading to a relatively expensive cost for the trailer. Such trailers are therefore used for medium distance transportation where the cost of the trailer can be justified and therefore is of little assistance in regard to the relatively short distance transportation from the field to the road location.
Other relatively inexpensive trailers are available where the bales are loaded onto cradles carried on the trailer but then are discharged by tilting the cradles outwardly so that the bales simple role to the ground on each side of the trailer. This construction has the significant disadvantage that the bales are rotated from their initial ground position when first formed so that a different angular orientation is provided relative to the ground when unloaded from the trailer. This means the original flat spot of the bale is rotated and the bale now sits on another part of its periphery on the ground. This rotation significantly affects the weathering properties of the bale. It is much preferred therefore that a bale once initially formed in one orientation and having generated a flat spot at that orientation is, when transported, returned to that orientation for further storage.
A trailer for transporting bales conveniently over relatively short distances and maintaining the bale in its original flat spot orientation is thus desirable to provide enhanced efficiency relative to the conventional front end loader technique commonly used in such short distance transportation.